Automatic wrench



G. E. ROBERTS.

AUTOMATIC WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- I, 1921.

1,391,581. 1 PatentedSept. 20 1921.

' III. II/1 :01!!! 'a'citizen of the United UNITED STAT-13s PATIENT; OFFICE.

.enonen 13mm, or scnnnncrany, NEW-YORK.)

,' euronarrc H 1 E Application meg 11 11631,

T all'whomit maybe 110cm: 'Be it .known that I, 'Gnonen E. ROBERTS, I States, residing-at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady j and State of New 'York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Automatic Wrenches; and I 'do'jhere'by declare;

the following to be a full clear,

and exact description of the invention, ,such as will enable others skilled in the art'to'which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic wrenches and has for its primary object the provision of aself-setting*movable jaw adapted to ad? just itself to a nut or bolt when released from-a locked 'position,"obviating the necessity'of removing the wrench from the nut 01 bolt tov obtain a fresh" gripthereon' and also dispensing with the slow finger -ad just ent now employed, on'wrenches of sin' 1ilar character. 1 1 p Another object'of this invention is the provision of a locking-element for holding the movable jaw in its various positions andwhichis provided with means for permanently locking the movable jaw against adjustment when desired "and also capable of allowingan-"actuating means to operate the same to free the movable jaw :and per; mit th'elatter to automatically move toward the 'stationaryjaw. I I A further object of'thisi'nventionis the provisionof an automatic wrench ofthe; above stated character which will be simple, i durable and eflicient, and "which may be. manufactured and sold at acompa'ratively lowcostf,

With these and'other objectsfin view'as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consistsin cer-j tain novel features of construction, combi- V nation, and arrangement of parts'aswill be hereinafter more c aim i. Y For a complete understanding F61 Ifiy *ihverition, reference is to bezjad tathf'fN fully I described 1 and .1 lllii.

lowmg-deswptlaad emana in s ,1n which s r 1 p K h a (one lgure 1- 184% i al eeaioa illlistfatigg Specification of Letters meat;

545 of Fig; 1.

ra anii whenls au ustedviltwrtckifig P tented Sept. 20, 1921 1921." Serial No. 448,789; i

' an"automaticwrench-constructed in ac cordance withmyrinvention, i I Fig. '2 is a vertical sectional view illustrating'the same,

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken '55 on the1ine'33 of Fig. 1, v i

' F'g. 4 is a similar view'taken onthe line HofFigil," Fig. 5 is a' similar view taken on the line i Referring in detail to the drawin the numeral 1 indicates a shank thathas ormed integrally with one end a stationary jaw 2 havin an inclinedactive face 3. The other end 0' the shank 1 is reduced as illustrated at 4 and has mounted thereon grips 5 that are engaged by a ferrule 6 and-the latter is securedlto the reducedend 4 of the shank by a rivet 7 'A movable jaw 8 is associated with the stationary jaw 2 and is provided I with an incline'dfactive face 9] cooperating I with the inclined active face?) of the jaw 2 in gripping nuts, bolts, and the. like, and the movable jaw 8 is formed integrally with a body 10 that isfslidably mounted onthe shank -The shank l' is'provided with a series of teeth llalong itslower edge adapted to be engaged by teeth 12 formed on a locking block orfl'ele'ment' 13 and the latter is 'slidably mounted within a recess 14 formed within thebody 10. The locking element'13 is' normally urged-in the direction of theshank 1 by means'of a leaf spring 15'. The leaf spring 1 5 is connected to an adjusting pin 16 carried by the body whereby its tension on-the locking element may be increased and decreased as desired, and! when increased the locking element is'perma ently held in en agement withahe'shank 1 sdthfitz theteeth thereof ate-magma anaem and revent the lndvablefiaw s fiem ha vimg I relative'niovemeirt 'in re the staticn r jttv a VIheieekirr p h maybe/"adjusted swasaczaecrease uie aasieme aae Siting; '1

a tlfaeaeie mey imwgd wayuw e= shank thus iiisn agi gahe seam n amine tareugh eae med area-"am aetuating 'lever 17w THGLIWeWY'ZF it bonfifieWWithin shack famed in'whe shaw i qtud ib pivotmy;

mounted as illustrated at 18 so that on movement of the lever in one direction, it will engage the locking element 13 and disengage the teeth thereof from the teeth 11' consequently freeing the jaw 8 and permitting the same to have relative movement in" respect to the stationary j aw. Th e lever 17 is so pivoted as to provide said lever with a comparatively long'end and a"compa'ray. short end a d he short end has iv; otally connected'thereto" a push pin"- at;

ton 19 operable within-arecess20-formed in the handle of the wrench; A coil sprin 21f is lo cated within the slot or Igroove o the shank 1 andbears against one wal1;thereof and the shortend of the lever for the purpose of moving the long end; of the lever away from the lockingelement 13. a

in the direction of the stationaryfjaw by A pressure placed upon the pushjpin or button19roe'ksthe lever 17 on its pivot 18 disengaging the locking element 13 from the shank; and'the-movable jaw 8 is then urged means of an expansion spring 22, thus it will be seen that the movable jaw 8 isquickand selfsetting when released from a locked position and: obviates thenecessity of removing the wrenchfrom a nut or boltwhen i desiring to obtain a; fresh grip on thelatter.

Oneendof the spring 22 bears. against the body 10 while the other end bears against oneend of thehan' dle. ,A casing 24 incloses \the' spring. 22 and receives one end of the handle and its other end'freceivesthe body 10 so thatfsai'dibody may slide' into and out of the casing during. the use of the wrench or'the adjustment of the movablewjaw. The

-- casing'24. is provided witha slotdisposed in ali'nement withthe-locking pin 16 so'as receive, the latterxwhen the movable jaw is V movedj'in the direction of the handle."

While .I have shown and described'thepreferred embodimentjof my invention, it will be I understoodjjthatminor changes in construction, combination, andlarrangement of parts may be -made without departing from the spirit and scope V of the invention as claimed.

- Having'thusdescribed invention what" I claim is:- r r 1. Awrench'comprlsing fa shank having a groove, a handle carried'by saidshank, Sta-- tionary and movable jaws carried by said shank, \means for urging the movable 1 j aw toward;the stationary jaw, a locking ele-V ment carried by the movable jaw and engaging said shank, and an actuating means mounted withi the groove of the shank and iadaptedto be operated to disengage the locking element from theshank. I A wrenchcomprising a shank having agroove, stat onary andv movable jaws car- 7 riefd by fsaidjshank, means fornormall urging the movable jaw toward the stationary jaw, teeth formed on said shank, a locking 1 element slidably mounted on the movable. jaw, teeth formed on said locking element, tension means normally urging the locking "element toward the shank, and anactuat ing means mounted in said groove and f adapted m be actuated as" move the locking ,element against its tension means for disengaging" the teeth thereof from the teeth of the shank.

3'.- A w're'n ch comprising a shank 'havi'ng a groove, .stationary. and movable jaws carried by'saidshank, means for normally urging the movable jaw 'toward the stationary;

jaw,.-a springpressed locking'element carriedby the movable jaw and adapted to engage the shankfian adjusting means for the lockingelement, flan factuating lever-E pivloted in said -groove, and an operating-means connected to said actuating lever 1: for mov';

ing the sameinto engagement with the locking element to free the same 'froin the shankl} 4. A 'wrench comprising a shank having a groove,.stationary and movable jaws'carried; by said shank,- a handle for said shank; means for normally urging the movable aw,

toward the stationary jaw,=a locking eleinent sli'dably supported by thejmovablejaw, ten sion means for urgingthe locking element; into engagement with-the shank, means. for

varying the tensionof said tension means,

a lever pivotedin said groove, tension means engaging said lever for holding the same -r away from the locking element, and apu'sh" button connected to the lever" and extending through the handle for moving the'gl'ever into engagement with the locking element to disengage the lattei' from theirshank.

5 A wrench comprising a shank having I a groove, stationary; and movableja'ws car ried by sa1d shank,

tension means between said handler-and the v e j e lockingtelement carr by v h im r lai ten i f-me ,iu g' ng a locking element into engagement with the shank, a casing slidably receiving the re 1 inclosing ,the first named tensionmeans, I a lock ng lever pivotedm sa1d" groovef and' movable jaw and engaging the handle and.

having. a short nd d a g nd and the? last named end disp'osed'over the locking" shank, aphandle carried by said shank, a 125 body slidable on said 'shank,' a movablejawi fo rmed onsaidbody, ,a lockin'gfelement slidably mounted in said. body and adapte'ilfto handle for said shank, f 0

and a button connected to age the" locking el'e';

engage the shank, tension means for said ment to disengage the latter from the shank locking element, tension means interposed when pressure is placed thereon. -10 between the handle and the body, an actuat- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature ing lever pivoted in said groove, tension in presence of two witnesses. 7 means engaging said lever and a push pin GEORGE E. ROBERTS. connected to the lever and extending Witnesses: through the handle and adapted to move the NICHOLAS J. WASSIL, lever into engagement with the locking ele- RALPH Sommnme r 

